Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Our Torihada Story - Part One

We have not yet seen the Torihada show that aired on tv asahi in Japan yesterday. A dvd is on its way to us. This post is simply our way of sharing what it was like to be a part of a Japanese "docu-drama." Judging from the comments on our blog and facebook pages, it appears as though it was a fun and positive show. We enjoyed the time we spent with the producer Sean (aka Tetsu), director, Ken, and film crew--Kenji, Kunihobu, Masanari, and Greg (aka Barry). By the end of our time filming, we were a bit sad to see them leave, as they had become our friends. At the beginning of our last meal (I want to say "last meal together," but it was an more of an awkward time with them recording us eating dinner), with the cameras rolling, little Ryatt offered a blessing on the food. Ryatt was sad to know that our Japanese friends were leaving and so he prayed for them, and prayed that they would be able to stay long enough for him to say his goodbyes.

So how did it go? Well, fortunately we knew they were coming. If you knew a film crew was coming to record a few days in the life of your family, what would you do? We cleaned our house, of course! And with busy lives there's never enough time, so we simply did the best we could.

Day One photo (as posted on facebook by Rochelle): Maybe I should have had Rain clean his room yesterday! I didn't expect the Japanese film crew to want to interview Rikki in Rain's bedroom. :-/ The adventure begins!

Day One facebook status (posted by Rain): The Japanese tv station people asked my family to sit on our couch like we normally do. We all sat, and before they started recording they asked "Do you guys normally sit this close...?" Yes. Yes we do. Hahahaha :)

While we were trying to act normal, how normal is it for an eight year old to do his homework with cameras in the kitchen? No pressure.

Then there was the morning that Dale drove the carpool to school: Breaking News!! Dale drove the carpool to school today! We got the Japanese TV cameras covering it...

And Dale had planned NOT to let any cameras into the garage. The public is not allowed in the garage. Until now. Listen to our Podcast Episode 3 for more about this special place.

Things got even crazier when the local news station (NBC's KSL 5) showed up to do a story about the Torihada show recording in Utah. Rain dubbed it "TVception." It's like a dream within a dream.

My favorite quote from that story was when the producer (Sean) said, "His whole family is filled with love and energy. It's great, it's like what I was expecting and it would have to be a character like that (pointing to Dale) to pull this off." Hearing those words from the producer, less than 24 hours into filming, gave me hope that they would tell our story with good intentions.

And then there was the business of waving. This time it was more than just waving at a school bus, we had an audience on the ground with us. For three days in a row. The first day they "surprised" us with their camera crews (wink wink). Dale was dressed as Darth Vader. And it looked something like this:

Later that day, they asked Dale to show them how he creates costumes so cheaply. I happen to know that Peter Pan was not a costume that Dale had planned ahead of time. At their promptings, he just "made it up" for them that day. He looked at photos of Peter Pan online. The hat and sword are just from Ryatt's toy box, and he made the "shirt" out of an old bed sheet and a hot glue gun. Oh, crafty ladies, be amazed.

This is the photo I used for the Peter Pan wave. Notice the foot? I think I know that foot from somewhere...

Ah yes! It's Kenji! Good Morning Kenji-san!

Our third wave morning was Indiana Jones. From one of the comments we received, it sounds like the Torihada show included audio of Dale humming the Indiana Jones theme song. It's a family favorite. Ryatt has even been known to request it when we sing songs around the campfire (yes, we like camping).

The bus was a few minutes late, so we had time for a few pre-shots

Dale's working on his acting career. The next Indy.

And this one made our official Indy blog post, complete with camera crew. No, we don't normally have random guys with cameras hanging out on our street corner.

I watched this Japanese TV program in the other night and I got to know about you and your family. I was touched by your "morning work" for your lovely son. My children were also enjoying to watch you wore many different costumes!!!